15 December 2021 – National Consultation on Rural Development Master Plan in Cambodia, via a hybrid modality.
During the 16th SOMRDPE Meeting held in November 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, the concept note on the master plan was adopted by the meeting. Subsequently, the concept note was endorsed by SOMRDPE, and was noted by the 11th AMRDPE as it was included in the SOMRDPE Chair’s Report.
ASEAN’s cooperation on rural development and poverty eradication, which is primarily undertaken through the ASEAN Framework Action Plan on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, is increasingly articulating, in its vision and operation, transformative rural development with a focus on rural resiliency, innovations and human capital. An inclusive rural transformation in the region needs a comprehensive guiding framework that would set common strategic directions for the ASEAN Community pillars, yet differentiated priorities and actions at the national level.
The development of an ASEAN Master Plan on Rural Development is being proposed to provide a cohesive guiding framework for ASEAN’s rural development and poverty eradication agenda, one that contributes to and is shaped by the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
Following the mandate given by the SOMRDPE, the ASEAN Secretariat and AsiaDHRRA have been working closely to mobilise resources towards developing the draft master plan. A team of senior experts were commission with the support from The Asia and Rockefeller Foundations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and GIZ, to analyse key ASEAN frameworks and work plans as well as other regional and global frameworks, towards developing the elements of the draft master plan.
A draft has already been presented recently during a technical consultation with SOMRDPE on November 25, 2021. It shall be followed with national consultations that will be co-organized by AsiaDHRRA through their DHRRA members, in coordination with SOMRDPE National Agencies. These national consultations will happen in December 2021.
The ASEAN Secretariat also wishes to take the consultation as opportunity to provide national participants an orientation about ASEAN and its mandates (ASEAN 101) that the RD Master Plan will contribute to actualize.
The national consultation aims to enrich the master plan development process with contribution from national SOMRDPE partners, including representatives from CSOs, private sectors, and development partners.
Specifically, the objectives of this national consultation are to:
- Create better understanding about ASEAN, its mandates and priorities;
- Provide a venue to share updates on the progress made in drafting the master plan and present the indicative vision, strategic thrusts, outcomes and actions;
- Gather inputs and comments from national RDPE Stakeholders particularly on the following:
- Thematic issues that need to be considered and reflected in framing the master plan;
- Strategic and impactful national initiatives that can be prioritized; and,
- Proposed timeline and milestones to ensure ownership as well as meaningful and substantive engagements among relevant RDPE National agencies, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders.
The results of the national consultations shall input into the continued development of the draft ASEAN Rural Development Master Plan for regional consultation with other ASEAN Community Pillars and Sectoral Bodies.
